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Todays lunchtime bulletin from Lloyds Loading List ;_
Seaborne Freight, the company controversially awarded a UK government contract to run freight ferries between Ramsgate and Ostend in the event of a no-deal Brexit, has insisted it will be ready by the time the UK leaves the EU, despite claims to the contrary.
According to the BBC, the company yesterday reiterated that the services were due to commence in March after a report earlier in the day by the Financial Times indicated that the government had accepted in private that it would not be ready for Brexit. The company said: “We are now in the final phase of the project and we are approaching the point of signature with Ramsgate and Ostend, with services due to commence in March.”
The Department for Transport said it had confidence in the deliverability of the service, the BBC reported. Seaborne Freight was awarded the £13. 8 million contract last month as part of the UK government’s planning for a no-deal Brexit. It is one of three contracts worth a total £103 million, with the other two awarded to Brittany Ferries and DFDS.
The assurances come after the mayor of Ostend told the BBC that the Belgian port would not be ready for a new ferry line in time for 29 March, while a local councillor for the Ramsgate harbour area said the port at Ramsgate also could not be ready. Other reports have also questioned whether the company will be able to deliver the promised frequency of services, partly because of operational limitations at Ramsgate.
Earlier this week, the UK government confirmed that the Department for Transport (DfT) had been “undertaking a wide range of work to mitigate the impact on the transport system of a no-deal EU Exit”, while insisting that the ambition of government remained “to ensure an orderly exit from the EU”.
It added: “Whilst the government has made clear it is committed to ensuring frictionless movement across the UK border, the scale of the potential disruption to the Dover Straits, if additional customs checks were introduced in Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk, where freight services disembark, could be very significant. Given the importance of these routes, contingency work is being undertaken to mitigate potential impacts and ensure that goods can continue to flow into and out of the UK as freely as possible.”
Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport, commented: “A priority for government is to ensure that the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel can continue to operate at the maximum possible capacity. The government is therefore working with both organisations and our French counterparts in Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk so that any disruption or drop in throughput is managed effectively and mitigated.”
He insisted that “there is a clear willingness to reach agreements which secure the continued operation of these vital trade routes in all scenarios, and the government remains confident that there will not be major disruption to the flow of goods across the border. Nevertheless, the potential for a decline in throughput remains possible in a worst-case scenario, and the government is therefore planning for all eventualities.”
As one of several contingency measures being undertaken, the Department for Transport has completed a procurement process to secure additional ferry capacity between the UK and the EU, “which can be used for critical goods such as medical supplies in the event of disruption to cross-Channel crossings”.
While the contract with Seaborne is to operate a new route, the other two contracts went to established operators, Brittany Ferries and DFDS to provide for additional capacity between the UK and EU on existing routes, via the provision of additional services and additional vessels. The government explained that the routes agreed with Brittany and DFDS “are away from the Dover Straits, and will run from the Ports of Immingham and Felixstowe (DFDS) and Poole, Plymouth and Portsmouth (Brittany) to destinations in Germany (Cuxhaven), the Netherlands (Vlaardingen) and France (Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, and Roscoff).”
Grayling explained: “Seaborne Freight has been preparing for some time to operate services on this route. Seaborne and my department are also working closely with Thanet Council to ensure that Ramsgate Port is ready to take new services. A programme of work to prepare the infrastructure is underway.”
Nevertheless, the UK government acknowledged that all of the additional ferry freight services it has commissioned in these three contracts “will be equivalent to around 8% of normal flows across the Dover Straights”, adding. “Whilst this will not be sufficient to mitigate the full level of disruption possible in a worst-case scenario, it will enable the government to provide essential capacity for the highest priority goods including medical supplies.”
With freight and logistics operators and their representatives anticipating massive disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit, especially to cross-Channel freight services, Lloyd’s Loading List today reported that air charter brokers are receiving more and more enquiries from freight forwarders about securing air cargo capacity to offset the potential repercussions of a ‘no deal’ Brexit on the supply chains of their shipper customers.
geoff
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